<p>People here tells me that it is easy to transfer to UCLA or USC from area community colleges like Pasadena or Santa Monica even if you are NOT a CA resident. They claim that all you need is a 3.0 GPA. Not sure if I can believe them. Anyone knows for sure?</p>
<p>It's best to ask the colleges in question--UCLA & USC. (By the way, USC is a private college, NOT a state school.) From all I've heard, you would need much higher than a 3.0 GPA to be accepted as a transfer for either of these very selective, competitive colleges.</p>
<p>I was told by people who attended Santa Monica and Pasadena. These folks had GPA in the 3.5 to 3.8 range so it doesn't surprise me that they got into Marshall and UCLA. However, they claimed that 'many' of their friends with grades around 3.0 also got in ... even those from out-of-state.</p>
<p>I found that hard to believe. Just wanna know if these were just rare exceptions...</p>
<p>GoBlue81,</p>
<p>Those likely were rare exceptions for both schools. Without knowing the average transfer GPA statistics off the top of my head (or bothering to look it up for that matter), I would shoot for at least a 3.5 to just be competitive. This comes from both my experiences in transferring (I had a 3.74 and was still nervous as hell) as well as knowing the GPAs of friends who successfully transferred into both schools.</p>
<p>I'm sure the stories about those people with sub three-fives getting in is true, but this by no means at all means it is the norm. They likely had extraordinary circumstances or at least something else in their application that made them look considerably strong despite their GPAs.</p>
<p>USC as mentioned above is a private school. My impression is that it is very eager to have out of state students since it adds to campus diversity--the further away or the more exotic the better. If you are from somewhere other than the southwest or northwest that will be a real plus.</p>
<p>Well, here are the average GPAs (sorted by applied major) for transfers to UCLA:</p>
<p>Santa Monica is #1 at transferring to UCLA (I believe they specialize in UCLA transferring), and Pasadena CC is really good too. I don't know about the out-of-state part though... perhaps these are students who aren't from California but have somehow quickly established residency?</p>
<p>According to the Transferring to USC booklet, <a href="http://afaweb.esd.usc.edu/USC-AFA/upload_images/Transferring0506.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://afaweb.esd.usc.edu/USC-AFA/upload_images/Transferring0506.pdf</a>, the average transfer GPA is 3.57.</p>